Starting a forum and having it develop, have a reputation, become established, and still be desirable takes a fair amount of planning, work, and good luck. The forum is mostly about the people that post, less the total amount of moderation/direction. Interestingly Geekhack has little if any of the moderation aspect, but it has worked due in part to the anchor members of the site that have maintained the quality and direction. Of course nothing is perfect. Since there is little moderation/direction, unfortunately there have been and will be flare ups with 30 day periods of *******s and elbows knocking each other around. It's been my experience that these "newcomers" that cause 99% of the problems, ultimately leave because they become bored, don't get the quick and easy respect they're looking for, or really are about the drama and trying to flex on the board because they can't in real life. It's a stupid guy thing. We all do it, the goal is to try and minimize it within yourself as much as possible. Otherwise you're just another prick.
So please go and start "your" forum. Make it exactly the way you want. The more the merrier! Hopefully you love it, it's everything you want it to be, crazy drama, or keyboards, or whateva. I assume your negative presence here will come to a stop (I doubt it, Geekhack is the premier keyboard site, so everyone one knows you will be checking in daily, no matter how much you deny it). You'll probably be talking about Geekhack on your site, just like kids in 6th grade...because that's exactly how you act here...like 6th graders. Who knows, with a lot of planning, work, and good luck, maybe your forum will be what Geekhack was before you got here...the best damn keyboard site in the world.
I wish you well, don't let the keyboard smack you in the ass on your way out.